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Edzell Castle | |
County |
Angus | |
How to get there |
8 miles north of Brechin, off B966 | |
History
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At the beginning of the 16th
century the Lindsay family left their lofty Norman castle and established a red freestone
tower house at the base of a neighbouring hill. The succeeding years were peaceful and in around 1580 Sir David Lindsay, Earl Edzell built an adjoining quadrangular courtyard mansion. In 1604 he added a walled enclosure to surround a splendid pleasance, bath house and summer house. The secluded garden, designed for pleasant recreation, is one of the most notable of any castle in western Europe. Lord Edzell was a well travelled and extravagant man and the inspiration for the Renaissance garden came from his travels in Germany. The walls of the pleasance were indented into compartments and recesses containing sculptures. On the west wall were the seven virtues, on the south wall the Liberal arts and on the east side the Planetary Deities. Some buildings were never finished and when Lord Edzell died in 1610 his debts meant that the castle soon fell into ruin. In 1651 the castle was occupied by Cromwell's troops and in 1747 was badly damaged during the second Jacobite Uprising. Creditors also stripped the floors and roofing materials and a great avenue of beeches was felled. The tower remains the best preserved part of the castle together with the summer house in the south-east corner of the garden. Today the castle is owned by the Department of the Environment and the pleasance has been restored to its former elegance. |
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